The Met: Live in HD’s broadcast of Bartlett Sher’s wild, kaleidoscopic production of Offenbach’s masterpiece Les Contes d’Hoffmann stars Vittorio Grigolo in the role of the tormented poet, Hoffmann will be shown at Theatr Mwldan on Wednesday February 4.

Hibla Gerzmava will sing the dual roles of Antonia and Stella, with Erin Morley as Olympia and Kate Lindsey as Hoffmann’s muse Nicklausse. Making her Live in HD debut the British soprano, Christine Rice, will sing the role of the Venetian courtesan Giulietta. The Four Villains are sung by Thomas Hampson and, Yves Abel conducts.

The Met season continues at Mwldan on Saturday February 14with a Valentine Day’s screening of two rarely performed one-act operas: Tchaikovsky’s romantic fairy tale Iolanta and Bartók’s psychological thriller Bluebeard’s Castle at 5.30pm. The double bill is conducted by Valery Gergiev and marks the Met debut of Mariusz Treli?ski, Artistic Director of Warsaw’s Polish National Opera whose production is inspired by the classic noir films of the 1940s.

Iolanta, which is being performed at the Met for the first time, tells the story of the psychological awakening of Anna Netrebko’s blind princess when she falls in love with Piotr Beczala’s Count Tristan Vaudémont. Alexei Tanovitski, who recently appeared with both Netrebko and Beczala in the Met’s production of Tchaikovsky’s best known opera, Eugene Onegin, takes the role of Iolanta’s over-protective father King René, while Aleksei Markov sings the role of Robert, King René’s choice of husband for Iolanta and who is Vaudémont’s rival in love. Elchin Azizov makes his Met debut as Ibn-Hakia, the physician consulted to treat Iolanta’s blindness. The libretto for Iolanta, Tchaikovsky’s final opera, was written by his brother Modest Tchaikovsky based on the

Danish play King René’s Daughter.

The second opera of the double bill live broadcast is Bartók’s harrowing Bluebeard’s Castle, in which newlywed Judith must open seven locked doors to discover the full depths of her husband’s dark secrets.

This co-production with Teatr Wielki Polish National Opera marks the Met’s first new production of Bluebeard’s Castle in more than 25 years. This will also be the first time an opera will be sung in Hungarian on the Met stage.

Tickets for MET Opera screenings are £16 (£15) available from Mwldan's Box Office on 01239 621200, online or via Smartphones at www.mwldan.co.uk.